Torres out of 100

I found it interesting to see how Torres times held up against the USMS top ten in the mens 40-45. She looks pretty good! But then it looks similar when I compared the USMS top ten men age 20-25 times against the times that the rest of our Olympic womens team put up at the trials. Be a good dual meet, but the women would win.

As for Dara not being trained correctly to hit her full potential when she was younger........ I find this laughable. I agree she had the proper training and met her potential for a young woman in her 20's. Beyond this, she has come to another phase... becoming a mother and having the tons of natural hormones flowing in her body. She has taken advantage of this to build and shape her body as never before, and combined with the mentality to train as a 40 year old (recovery based training), she has excelled once again.... no drugs required. Bravo!

I'm in the camp of the very guarded optimist regarding Dara. I want to believe in her but acknowledge that what she's done stretches the limits of believability. Wouldn't it be nice to think that age isn't as detrimental to performance as we once believed? I remember Jeannie Childs (sp?) on the cover of Swimming World magazine when I was in high school. She was an OLD lady back then--21--and breaking all kinds of barriers. No one could believe a woman "that old" could swim as fast as she did. Shoot, when I swam in college in the 80's it was a relatively new idea that women could continue to drop time post-high-school. I don't think anyone can know if Dara reached her potential during those years. She was part of the "be skinny at all costs" culture of women's swimming at the time. Eating disorders among women swimmers were relatively common as were weigh-ins. Nutrition was not nearly as recognized as a factor in athletic performance. Women swimmers were commonly avoiding fat (and, by doing so, protein as well). We were eating carbs. We were only beginning to see hydration as important. There were not the number of supplements now available back then. I don't really know what to think. Like I said, many women went into college swimming without the knowledge that the peak of their athletic abilities lay ahead of them and not behind. The swimming world has really changed since then. It would be nice to think it can continue.

Beyond this, she has come to another phase... becoming a mother and having the tons of natural hormones flowing in her body. She has taken advantage of this to build and shape her body as never before, and combined with the mentality to train as a 40 year old (recovery based training), she has excelled once again.... no drugs required. Bravo! I don't know the medical basis for this, but it is really hard for me to fathom. I think pregnancy and childbirth and post-baby time are typically associated with flat out exhaustion. I had a kid at 39, and I didn't really experience this wonderful new phase of life. In fact, physically, I feel like I've gone mostly downhill since 40. I can't seem to recover at all. Rouse is a good example. I thought KPN WAS a professional masters swimmer. She may not have Dara's intensive recovery regimen, but still ...

I swim with a former college swimmer who is a pure sprinter. She is in her 30s now (I realize not the same age as Dara) but going big time PRs. She is swimming 3 times a week 4 at the most. And doing a couple of weight training sessions. Basically now she is really training like a sprinter. She swam at a well known school and has had a great coaching. I am amazed by Dara and with all she is going through with getting tested I have 110% confidence in her! I hope she kicks major booty!!!!

I don't know the medical basis for this, but it is really hard for me to fathom. I can't say I do, either. But, I known that a woman's body is flooded with natural growth hormone to put on weight, and most women do, but they "just go with it" and put on garbage weight (my mother did anyway, and a lot of other moms). With the right focus, pre/post-baby-time can make mommy more than just fat and puffy. I also know that the hormones keep flowing as long as mom breastfeeds, too. Having anything in there doesn't matter... just the act of nursing causes hormone generation.

That's why you need a nanny. Or an au pair girl. Nice idea, but I'm using all my spare funds to purchase cheatin' technical suits. Whew, I'm not even petty. Banner day.

Just for clarification on the previous issue, it is now evident that the one's who are calling her out for skipping the 100 are the same who are certain she is a steriod cheat! I for one am bothered by that, because I think she is a steroid cheat and find it distracting to the issue to make claims that she is selfish for scratching the 100. It gives the appearance of pettiness. I think the connection between the two issues is tenuous at best. There is no direct evidence that she is cheating and it is unprovable that she isn't, so it is simply a matter of faith either way (ie, you either assume she is or she isn't). Personally, I cannot believe she is cheating if the ONLY (or main) evidence is that she is swimming very fast. It means something that she is voluntarily going beyond the minimum requirements. However, having been burned in the past, like some I am guarded in my attitude towards her achievements. Intellectually I can appreciate what she is doing, which is ground-breaking, but it has no emotional resonance with me. I admire her achievements while at the same time I confess that I don't really find HER all that admirable. (Dara-defenders, please don't jump down my throat. I am not accusing her of cheating nor am I calling her a terrible person.) And I also do not admire her -- as a competitor -- for skipping out of the 100, whether you want to call it selfish or whatever. Reasonable people can differ on this and I certainly see the logic behind doing it, I just don't happen to agree.

As for Dara not being trained correctly to hit her full potential when she was younger........ I find this laughable. Haven't training techniques improved over the years? One of the reasons records fall is because later athletes take advantage of more modern training techniques. It's possible that she was trained the full potential of the available training techniques when she was younger, but that more appropriate techniques are available to her today. I find Dara's current stroke (at least what I've seen out of the water) to be a thing of beauty. I didn't get that impression watching the video posted of her swimming the free leg of the 400 medley relay at the 2000 Olympics. It seems to me her stroke has improved significantly in the last eight years. Skip

You're way out of bounds on your comments about Dennis Baker's talent and training. Perhaps you don't know who he is very well. I don't know Dennis, either, but from what I've read I think I can see ehoch's point. Obviously Dennis was an elite swimmer in college, but he certainly never held a world record like Dara did. But I think ehoch's main point is that Dennis is training hard now AND working several hours a day on the pool deck coaching. That is very different from what Torres is doing.